Every year you hear about someone taking a walk in the woods and enjoying nature, nothing wrong with that. But you should always be prepared for the unexpected. I’m not only talking food and water, but your first aid kit or know your herbs and they can help you survive. Always take something to keep you warm. Yes, it may be warm during the day but at night it may be colder depending on where you are. Matches in a waterproof container would come in handy.
But if you are not prepared here are some thing you can forage if lost during the cold.
Pine trees, many parts are edible, the needles of the pine tree can be boiled and made into a tea, the inner layer of the bark can also be eaten, also the young pine cone can be eaten. Even the young pine tree roots can be eaten. You can boil the root and peel off the first layer and they taste sweet. Pine trees are a great source of vitamin A, vitamin C beta-carotene.
Wild Garlic and Onions are everywhere in temperate regions they have a characteristic smell so you can tell they are Garlic and Onions.
Chickweed can be identified by its oval leaves with its pointed tip, and hairs along the stem that are white. This plant can be eaten raw. The other kind of chickweed is called mouse-ear chickweed. That one you need to boil to get the hair off the leaf, then you can eat it.
Burdock usually finds you before you find it, the little burs stick to your pants or boots as soon as you pass by it. You can make a tea with it, if the plant is young you can eat the root, but if it is old then it is very bitter tasting.
Rose Hips in the winter stick out like a sore thumb you can eat them raw or use them to make a tea, they have lots of vitamin C. In an empty winter landscape they are easy to see.
Velvet Shank Mushrooms have orange caps that make them easy to spot in a winter landscape, they grow from dead wood but prefer elm and oak trees best and usually grow in groups.
Nettles are a supper food, rich in proteins and vitamins, also have plenty of Iron. They make a great meal. Its best to wear gloves before picking.
Acorns are best picked up from the ground, meaning they are ripe and ready to eat. They are full of good fats that our body needs. You soak them in warm water before using them. You can make coffee or flour with them. To make acorn coffee you grind to a powder and boil the water then add the acorn powder, just like you would normally make coffee. To make flour, you do the same, grind into a flour.
I guess you have to use your imagination when it comes to making food in the woods when you are lost, the food may not be what you are used to but at least you wont be hungry. And when they find you, you can share the food that mother nature has provided.